Marine Aquaculture Research for America Act of 2026
A BILL
To require the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish an assessment program for commercial-scale offshore aquaculture through demonstration projects, to support aquaculture development, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Purposes
The purposes of this Act are—
to authorize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish and study commercial-scale demonstration projects to answer scientific questions needed to safely and sustainably regulate offshore aquaculture in the United States;
to commission a study and report to assess the environmental and regulatory viability of a United States offshore aquaculture industry;
to support aquaculture workforce development and working waterfronts by creating new jobs and to support existing jobs and businesses within the seafood industry of the United States, including jobs and businesses for traditional participants in the fishing industry;
to reduce the United States seafood trade deficit by expanding the domestic supply of seafood through the production of sustainable offshore aquaculture; and
to support the development of offshore aquaculture in a manner that minimizes conflicts with existing recreational and commercial fishing access and uses.
Sec. 3 Definitions
In this Act:
Administration— The term Administration means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Administrator— The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Administration.
Appropriate committees of Congress— The term appropriate committees of Congress means—
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Committee on Environment and Public Works, and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; and
the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on Agriculture, and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives.
Aquaculture— The term aquaculture—
means any activity involved in the propagation, rearing, or attempted propagation or rearing, of cultured species, including the capture of wild individuals for rearing as broodstock; and
does not include the practice of—
capturing juvenile finfish to rear to maturity in an aquaculture facility for subsequent commercial sale, commonly referred to as ranching; or
rearing and releasing cultured species for the purpose of enhancing wild populations.
Aquaculture stakeholder— The term aquaculture stakeholder means—
an owner or operator of an offshore aquaculture facility or a land or coastal-based facility supporting offshore operation, including hatcheries and nurseries;
a Regional Fishery Management Council established under section 302(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(a));
an interstate fisheries commission;
a conservation organization;
a fisheries association;
a State or county government;
an Indian Tribe;
a Native Hawaiian organization;
a Native Hawaiian community;
a Tribal or Indigenous community;
a Federal or State agency with interests in aquaculture; or
any other interested party.
Coastal State— The term coastal State has the meaning given the term coastal state in section 304(4) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453(4)).
Cultured species— The term cultured species—
means any species propagated and reared for marine aquaculture;
includes marine shellfish species intended for propagation that self-recruit to aquaculture structures in the offshore environment; and
excludes any member of the class Aves, Reptilia, or Mammalia.
Escape— The term escape means the escape of juvenile- or adult-farmed organisms or fertilized eggs spawned by cultured species from offshore aquaculture facilities or land or coastal-based hatcheries, nurseries, or associated facilities.
Exclusive economic zone—
In general— Unless otherwise specified by the President in the public interest in a writing published in the Federal Register, the term exclusive economic zone means a zone, the outer boundary of which—
except as provided by clause (ii), is 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured; or
if an applicable maritime boundary treaty is in force or is being provisionally applied by the United States, is established by that treaty; or
in the absence of such a treaty and in a case in which the distance between the United States and another country is less than 400 nautical miles, is a line equidistant between the United States and the other country.
Inner boundary— Without affecting any Presidential proclamation with regard to the establishment of the United States territorial sea or exclusive economic zone, the inner boundary of the exclusive economic zone is—
in the case of the coastal States, a line coterminous with the seaward boundary of each such State, as described in section 4 of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1312);
in the case of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a line 9 nautical miles from the coastline of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
in the case of American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, or Guam, a line 3 geographic miles from the coastlines of American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, or Guam, respectively; or
in the case of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands—
the coastline of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, until the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is granted authority by the United States to regulate all fishing to a line seaward of its coastline; and
upon the United States grant of such authority, the line established by such grant of authority.
Rule of construction— Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to diminish the authority of the Department of Defense, the Department of the Interior, or any other Federal agency.
Fishery stakeholders— The term fishery stakeholders means—
subsistence fishery participants and their dependents;
commercial fishermen;
seafood processing and distribution workers;
recreational fishery participants;
Tribal fisheries; and
territorial fishing communities, including such communities in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands.
Genetically modified organism; genetically modified— The terms genetically modified organism and genetically modified mean any organism whose genetic material (DNA) has been altered using technology in a way that does not occur naturally by conventional breeding or natural processes and results in permanent, heritable changes, with the exception of sterilization.
Indian Tribe— The term Indian Tribe has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
Institution of higher education— The term institution of higher education has the meaning given that term in section 201 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
Native Hawaiian community— The term Native Hawaiian community means the distinct Native Hawaiian indigenous political community that Congress, exercising its plenary power over Native American affairs, has recognized and with which Congress has implemented a special political and trust relationship.
Native Hawaiian organization— The term Native Hawaiian organization has the meaning given that term in section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517) and includes the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
National sea grant college program— The term national sea grant college program means the program maintained under section 204(a) of the National Sea Grant College Program Act (33 U.S.C. 1123(a)).
Offshore aquaculture— The term offshore aquaculture means aquaculture conducted in the exclusive economic zone.
Offshore aquaculture facility— The term offshore aquaculture facility means—
an installation or structure used, in whole or in part, for offshore aquaculture; or
an area of the seabed or water column used for offshore aquaculture.
State— The term State means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and any other Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.
Tribal land— The term Tribal land means land that is subject to the jurisdiction of an Indian Tribe.
Tribal or Indigenous community— The term Tribal or Indigenous community means a population of people who are—
enrolled members of an Indian Tribe;
members of an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian community or organization; or
members of any other community of Indigenous people located in a State.